With more than 14 albums and 700+ concerts behind him already, Martin Nathan ventures for 20 years now, into many artistic and stylistic experiments, under the name of Brain Damage.

Acclaimed as one of the founders of the French dub scene, he presents in 1999 one of the first dub live-act of its kind in France, influencing an entire generation of artists laying claim for his heritage. Early in the 2000s already, his pioneering spirit leads him to collaborate with some masters of the style in the UK (Zion Train, Alpha & Omega, The Disciples) and to go to London for a memorable session at Conscious SoundStudio with MC Tena Stelin. This model of collaboration between French producer and British singer will then become a standard step for many actors of the scene, so far.

But the artist is definitely not among those who forever rest on the models he founded himself at the dawning of his long career. Insatiable producer, after the release of his two first albums on the Parisian label Hammerbass, he joins Jarring Effects label in 2006 for a trilogy of experimental opuses. 2011 he produces with the band High Tone, the project « High Damage » shaped like the climax of the historical « French dub touch » scene heyday. Henceforth evolving in a much younger environment, one year later, he gathers the so-called « sound-system » and « live » cultures — sadly often opposed — through the masterful realization of the federative album « Empire Soldiers », alongside the Briton Steve Vibronics, another pioneer figure of the genre.

His real masterstrokes are yet to come. 2015 he flies to Kingston to tailor most of his project “Talk the Talk / Walk the Walk” with Jamaican icons like Horace Andy, Willi Williams, Winston Mc Anuff, Kiddus Iand even Ras Michael, for a vibrant tribute to the creators of his favorite style. 2017, the producer turns to the United States for an outstanding collaboration with Harrison Stafford, charismatic leader of legendary band Groundation, determined to flout codes once again and to build strong bridges with the reggae scene — contemporary this time — and with one of its internationally recognized main figures. Then, one year later, he travels to Colombia to produce one of his most unexpected albums: an opus of incredible charm, entirely in Spanish, that enables him to break away from some pervasive UK models, also in his own discography.

Over the years, it is also with his truly live and explosive performances, that Martin Nathanhas grown a solid reputation throughout the international scene. In France, in the light of his experience and ability to continually renew his art, Brain Damage appears now as the link between the scene he contributed to establishing more than 20 years ago, and the new activists of a more synthetic & frontal dub. It is exceptionally rare to see an artist celebrating his 20th career anniversary, with so much vitality and creativity, and no need to call upon his own past. It rather increasingly appears that he doesn’t bar any risk-taking, always swimming against the tide, more groundbreaking than ever and paradoxically federative. Here definitely lays his signature and maybe the key to the project longevity.